Three experiments examined the comprehension effects of manipulating the spatial configuration of prose materials with readers who differed in lateral preference. In each investigation, adult readers of normal verbal facility who differed in their lateral preference patterns were presented with prose passages which varied orthographically. Thirty…

Summarizing recent research, this article defines the functions performed by the left and right sides of the human brain. Attention is given to the right side, or the nondominant side, of the brain and its potential in terms of perception of the environment, music, art, geometry, and the aesthetics. (JC)

Effects of advanced aging on hemispheric organization for linguistic processing was investigated with 24 geriatric subjects. Findings indicated that only the left hemisphere was used in language processing, suggesting that right hemispheric language processing ability is inhibited in the elderly. (Author/DB)

This commentary, written in response to Witelson's work (1987), examines alternative ways of determining how the developmentally stable functional asymmetry (hemispheric specialization) observed in neurologically intact children can be reconciled with the dramatic recovery of function often displayed following unilateral brain damage. (PCB)

The different functions of the brain hemispheres as they relate to discourse analysis of narratives are examined through review of studies of the narratives of hemidecorticate (a disconnection of the two brain hemispheres) adolescents. Focus is on the role of pragmatics, discourse processing, and the use of pronouns. (Author/DB)

Gazzaniga argues that without language right hemisphere cognition is vastly limited and that most normal right hemispheres have no language and only "rudimentary cognition." These assertion ignore important nonlinguistic observations, as well as findings with hemispheric sodium amytal anesthesia and laterality effects for complex cognitive tasks…

Ten subjects with right-brain lesions were compared with 10 healthy subjects on psychomotor tasks (pursuit tracking). The injured group was able to learn the task but were slower at correcting unanticipated errors and did not respond to changes in the probable direction of movement. (SK)

Measures unilateral, tachistoscopic naming reaction times of normal and reading disordered children to objects representing two levels of picture vocabulary age. Suggests parallel, central picture naming operations for each group, with reading disordered children evidencing longer naming reaction times to each stimulus level. Suggests that a group…

States that hemispheric preference literature reveals mostly marginally significant data--different ways of probing human thought processing exist and various mistakes can sometimes account for borderline data. Elaborates the Sonnier Model of Hemispheric Preferences (SMHP) which may provide clarification and more fruitful research questions and…

This article provides an overview of decision-making literature, describes individual and organizational decision stages, and reviews selected idiographic influences on decision-making. Also presented is a model for predicting and explaining variations in decision outcomes. These outcomes include affective, cognitive, and behavioral conditions.…

Observed 4-year-olds during interaction tasks, and 2-weeks later recorded brain wave functions while subject attended to a visual stimulus. Found that children who displayed social competence exhibited greater relative left frontal activation than children displaying social withdrawal during the play session, who exhibited greater relative right…

New evidence on brain functions demonstrates the necessity of connections between knowing and doing, school and life, knowledge and application, and content and context. Contextual teaching and learning principles can better harness the power of the thinking brain. (SK)

Responds to L. Eubank and K. R. Gregg article (this issue), suggesting they have misinterpreted and misrepresented claims made by B. Jacobs and J. Schumann. Claims discussed include the micro- and macro-organization of neurobiology and language, the Explananda, Jacobs and Schumann's acquisition mechanism, and reductionism. The single acquisition…

Responds to L. Eubank and K. R. Gregg article (this issue), negating their rejection of neurobiological accounts of language acquisition because they are not based on Government and Binding theory and addressing their ideas on the explanatory power of associative learning. A discourse between neurobiology and linguistics is possible only if…

Describes an assignment that begins with a short questionnaire to determine students' dominant mode of thinking. Discusses differences between left- and right-mode thinking patterns and how communication is affected by domination of either mode. (SR)